All over again.. Are Canucks Tough Enough?

Recommended Posts

During the Boston series canucks were not tough and the next year against LA they got beat up. This looks just as bad if not worse. Kassians big but hardly took the body last year. Lappy might be the only reliable player. Edler shows up physically once every 7 games. Volpatti and Weise only play a few minutes per night. I think we lack the skillful physical players that Boston and LA had like Dustin Brown or Milan Lucic. I hope for the best, maybe with a short season our guys won't get worn out as much.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

imo with the shortened season, most teams will stick to hockey between the whistles, and general attention to acquiring points. As well, expect the officiating to condone "attractive hockey" due to the assclownery of the lockout.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

imo with the shortened season, most teams will stick to hockey between the whistles, and general attention to acquiring points. As well, expect the officiating to condone "attractive hockey" due to the assclownery of the lockout.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

I've always wondered why we need to cater to the other teams style of play instead of sticking to our, as proven that we can quite assertively handle the elite teams of the league (while scraping by against the lesser for some reason ) by playing our game. Skillful power forwards are a dime a dozen, that's why we got Kassian

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Our forwards really haven't changed at all but I don't think that was our main problem - it was on defence and MG did a fantastic job of shoring that up. Garrison, Vandemeer and even Barker can all be very physical guys which is what you need in the playoffs - big bodies on defence that grind down the forwards and punish them into the boards every single shift so that over a 7 game series they're broken down and can't score anymore.

That's how Boston beat us - they didn't have that many big forwards actually. L.A beat teams with a tenacious forecheck and big forwards grinding down the players. Doesn't matter who does

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

I don't think that we are tough enough once the playoffs start or when we play a big close checking team during the regular games. This has to be a concern going into a shortened season where there is no room for a night off because you can make up the points against a weaker team. Every single game this year will be like the homestretch and preparing for the playoffs.

We need a big forward with hands to play with the Sedins. So far Kassian has not demonstrated that he has the hands to warrant a top 6 spot. He may after he gains experience but this shortened season does not allow the time to gain that experience....each game is too important. That is why Schroeder is back in Chicago (besides not having to have him clear waivers).... because he has to dominate at that level before he can be expected to grab a top 6 in the NHL.

Hopefully the right players come Vancouver's way in a Luongo trade....but we are going to have to be patient until the right offer is presented.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

we have new toughness through out the line up and in depth. so to answer your question, on paper, yes. Also i don't think toughness or grit was the issue against LA. Our guys were running around quite a bit the first few games and got torched because of it. hopefully the new guys can take on the physicality and leave our prominent offensive guys to do their jobs. so i supose we'll just "wait & see".